Previewing How America Saves 2025: Sustained strong performance, improved plan design

• In 2024, 61% of plans offered automatic enrollment.
• 78% of plans with 1,000 or more participants offered it.
• 7 in 10 plans with 1,000 or more participants also offered an autoincrease feature.

• 45% of participants increased their deferral rate—either voluntarily or as part of an automatic increase feature.
• Overall account balances remained strong, increasing 10% on average. The average balance was a tick above $148,000. 

• The use of professionally managed allocations (target-date funds or managed account advice services) has increased by 50% over the last 10 years.
• Of the 67% of participants in a professionally managed allocation in 2024, 59% were in a single target-date fund, 7% were in a managed account advisory service, and 1% were in a balanced fund.
• Almost all participants (99.5%) had access to a target-date fund, and nearly 80% had access to a managed account advice service.

Notable progress was made in 2024, but there are still actions sponsors can take to help ensure their plans are as strong as possible for their participants.

Primarily, plans that have not yet adopted automatic enrollment should consider doing so. Our research shows that employees in plans with an automatic enrollment feature save more than those in voluntary enrollment plans. In 2023, for example, employees in plans that offer automatic enrollment saved 65% more.

For plans with automatic enrollment, sponsors should think about bumping up their default deferral percentage. Higher defaults build momentum right from the start, and help participants get to an optimum deferral of 12% to 15%. In 2024, 30% of plans enrolled employees at 6% or higher.

Of course, retirement isn’t the only financial goal on the minds of participants. Some may be trying to pay off student loans or credit card debt. Some may be trying to build health care savings and an emergency fund. Competing priorities can be complex and lead to financial stress.

To help, sponsors can consider offering a high-quality, cost-efficient advice service as well as a platform that supports a participant’s entire financial well-being. These are just two ways sponsors can provide participants with personalized solutions.

For more results and insights, check out our How America Saves 2025 preview commentary. We hope the 2025 edition of How America Saves will give plan sponsors and consultants the tools they need to make the right decisions, empowering participants to more easily reach their retirement goals.

Meanwhile, the data and insights from How America Saves 2024 are still available. You can access them here.

Notes:

• All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.
• Investments in target-date funds are subject to the risks of their underlying funds. The year in the fund name refers to the approximate year (the target date) when an investor in the fund would retire and leave the workforce. The fund will gradually shift its emphasis from more aggressive investments to more conservative ones based on its target date. An investment in target-date funds is not guaranteed at any time, including on or after the target date.
• All data sourced from Vanguard research, 2025.